iShares MSCI Singapore ETF

EWS

Market cap $794M

Singapore's banks and financial firms should use artificial intelligence to create better jobs and train workers for higher-value roles, ​not just cut costs, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong ‌said on Wednesday.

About 10 companies from countries including Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore have filed for Hong Kong listings this year and some others are exploring options, an ​exchange executive said, as the market's robust IPO momentum lures global firms.

Singapore must take action to attract leading AI firms and also build on its status as ​a major energy hub, a committee set up ‌to chart new areas of growth and create jobs said in recommendations submitted to the government on Wednesday.

Banks in Singapore are working with the city-state's industry body to monitor emerging threats ​posed by frontier artificial intelligence models, the ‌director of the Association of Banks in Singapore said on Monday.

CNBC's Dan Murphy delves into the Middle East's investment flows and provide insights on the global energy hub and the vast amounts of capital originating from the region on Access Middle East (12:00 – 13:00 SIN/HK). Please note this livestream is only available in Europe and India.

iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is rated a Buy, leveraging Singapore's aggressive AI adoption and strong governance as a forward-looking growth catalyst. Singapore's government-driven AI initiatives, including tax incentives and workforce upskilling, have propelled AI adoption from 24% in 2023 to 66% by 2025. EWS offers attractive fundamentals: a low ~15.3 P/E, ~2.3 P/S, a 0.5% expense ratio, and a >4% dividend yield, despite sector concentration in financials.

ASEAN's dividend opportunity is underpinned by diverse and evolving market characteristics. The FTSE ASEAN Index, which captures the large- and mid-cap companies listed in the five ASEAN markets - Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines - has delivered a 10-year average dividend yield of 3.57%. Across multiple market cycles over the past 25 years, a back-test of the FTSE ASEAN ex REITs Target Dividend Index's strategy showed notable resilience during market downturns and lower overall volatility compared with the broader ASEAN market.

EWS has a highly concentrated, cyclical exposure portfolio that tilts towards industrials and consumer discretionary sectors. It underweights local banks and telecommunication stocks, limiting its participation in STI's strongest multi-year performance. With a P/E of c.15.5, many constituents are at record highs, which heightens downside risk on earnings misses.

Singapore offers stable growth, strong governance and a resilient market, making Singapore-focused ETFs a strategic Asia allocation option.

The reading was lower than Reuters-polled analysts' median estimates of 1.3%.